van’t Schip confident City can harness its Derby form

After bouncing back from Friday’s loss to Perth Glory in style, City Head Coach John van’t Schip believes his side can take the intent they showed during the Westfield FFA Cup Melbourne Derby Semi Final and use it this Friday night.

City come up against Adelaide looking to get back into the A-League’s winner’s circle and the loss to Perth may have been the wake up call City needed during the first month of the season.

A spirited response was shown on Tuesday night as van’t Schip’s side qualified for the FFA Cup Final with a 2-0 win in the Melbourne Derby and the Dutchman said his side must treat every game with the same intent as the Derby.

“Every game is important and this one is the same,” van’t Schip said.

“We are going out there to win the game and were not going to think about the game two days ago.

“The Perth game was maybe a bit different because we did a few things that were not the way we do things so then you invite the opponent into areas where they can get dangerous. We talked about it and we did in the right way against Victory in the cup again.

“That’s what we have to do tomorrow against Adelaide so that we are more disciplined. We’re going to still make mistakes and take a step back here or there but hopefully we can go two steps forward and keep on growing in our progress and process on what we’re doing.”

The short turn-around from Tuesday night’s contest will have an effect on the match in terms of minutes and loads of certain players but the Head Coach made it clear to the media on Thursday that he’ll have a similar side to last week for the contest.

“From the start we’ll have a strong group, we have competition so we’re certainly going to see how players feel,” he said.

“If we have to make changes to freshen it up or players that aren’t completely recovered, we can do that and the players that step in, they get a great opportunity and the trust of everyone to play and perform.

“There are a few little niggles so well still need today. Yesterday we had recovery but it looks quite good so we just have to wait another 24 hrs.”

There is sure to be fireworks this Friday night as Melbourne City take on Adelaide United at AAMI Park, kick-off 7.50pm. Click here to secure your tickets to the match or sign up as a Melbourne City member for the 2016/17 season!